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In recent years the name Philip Glass has become virtually synonymous with avant-garde American music. St. Louis music lovers will be treated to a rare solo piano concert when the famed minimalist composer comes to Edison Theatre for a one-night-only show at 8 p.m. Feb. 19.
The program includes a series of works composed for solo piano as well as several arrangements for organ or instrumental combinations. Selections span the gamut of Glass' career, from the 1976 work "The Fourth Knee Play" through such recent compositions as "Etueds" (1994-95).
Glass has been at the forefront of cutting-edge American music for close to three decades. Born in Baltimore in 1937, he took up violin at age 6 and flute at 8. At 15 he was admitted by the University of Chicago, where he majored in mathematics and philosophy.
Glass graduated four years later and moved to New York, where he entered the Juilliard School and studied under Vincent Persichetti, Darius Milhaud and William Bergsma. At the age of 23 he moved once again, this time to Paris, where he studied with Nadia Boulanger and supported himself, for a time, by translating the music of Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar into Western notation. The exposure to Indian compositional techniques soon led Glass to explore other world music, particularly that of North Africa and the Himalayas, all of which would come to influence his own compositions.
Glass has composed dozens of major works, including opera, film scores and works for dance. His egalitarian instincts also have led him to explore the world of pop music. At the same time, Glass has completed commissions for leading classical venues, including the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Most recently, Glass has undertaken a trio of projects with Robert Wilson including "White Raven," an opera commissioned by Portugal to celebrate its history.
Tickets are $23 and are available at the Edison Theatre Box Office, 935-6543, or through MetroTix, 534-1111. Call for discounts. The performances are sponsored by Edison Theatre's OVATIONS! Series. For more information, call 935-6543.
Prior to Philip Glass' OVATIONS! concert Feb. 19, a dinner in his honor will be held at the Whittemore House. The dinner, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will feature a short presentation on Glass' work by Claude Baker, composer in residence at the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and a professor at the University of Indiana, Bloomington.
Seating is limited and reservations are required. For more information or to register, call Aly Abrams at 935-4478.
